Minicraft 1/144 Boeing 377 'Stratocruiser'

Although not a modern kit by today's standards, I choose to build it as I wanted to do something different from my usual subject matter and I was also drawn to it kits by its more striking Northwest Orient Airlines colour scheme.

 

The kits assembly was very simple and straightforward, but I knew I would need to add a considerable amount of weight to the nose if it wasn't to be a tail sitter. Despite my best efforts though, as I was concerned about the undercarriages ability to carry any significant weight, my model still ended up being a tail sitter and required a tail prop to be added to support it.

 

With the model assembled, sanded and rescribed where necessary, the top half of the fuselage, fin and wing tips were then spray with several coats of Tamiya Fine Surface Primer White. The fin and wing tips were then masked and sprayed with Gunze Mr Color Red Madder (C68). Once these areas were dry, they were then masked and the rest of the model sprayed with Mr Finishing Surface Primer 1500 Black. The lower fuselage, wings and tailplanes were then sprayed with a combination of AK Extreme Metal Aluminium (AK479) and Dark Aluminium (AK480).

 

With the painting finished and masking removed the model was then given an all over gloss coat of Mr Super Clear UV Cut Gloss in preparation for the decals. As I wanted to depict a specific aircraft I choose not to use the kit decals and instead purchased a sheet of Flying Colors decals (FC44-020), which were far more comprehensive. The decals went on without any fuss using Micro Set and Sol and once dry, were sealed in with a second coat of Mr Super Clear UV Cut Gloss.

 

It was then just a matter of adding the undercarriage, which I'd reinforced with metal pins, and propellers and with that done the model was finished.

Historic Commercial Vehicle Club Display (Yarra Glen)

Due to the Covid pandemic this event had been cancelled for several years and with the lifting of restrictions it was scheduled to take place again in November 2022. However, unseasonable heavy rains and flooding in the local area, resulted in the venue being unusable and the event was subsequently rescheduled to take place in February 2023. Thankfully, the venue was far more suitable by this time, the weather gods were smiling and the event went ahead without a hitch. 

Eduard 1/48 Mig-29A

Academy kits is one of those brands that I usually shy away from, however when a customer hands you a kit and asks you to build it, you don't always get a choice. Although it came in an Eduard Limited Edition boxing, I knew from the outset that it was an Academy kit with just whole lot of Eduard aftermarket stuff thrown in. This included a replacement resin nose cone with a brass pitot tube, cockpit tub, ejection seat, wheel well bays, wheels, flare dispensers, exhaust cones and a large fret of etch metal. As impressive as this all looked, from past experience with Academy kits, I still wasn't overly impressed by it.

 

The first thing I tackled was the fitment of the replacement resin wheel wells, as they were quite fiddly and it is important to ensure that they are fitted correctly, or this will affect the stance of the aircraft later on, which unfortunately occurred in my case but wasn't noticeable until the very end (sigh!).

 

As for the rest of the kit and the replacement parts, everything went together surprisingly well and in the end it proved to be a much more enjoyable build than I had envisaged, with nothing major to deal with. The only items I elected not to fit to the kit were the etch static wicks, as these are so small and their attachment point so limited, that I felt they would be prone to breakage and therefore better left off.

As for the finish, this was my first time use of MRP Paints. Their Soviet Aircraft Colours were used throughout and they were absolutely superb. If I could find a consistent and reliable source for these paints, they would become my paint of choice in the future. As for the decals, I don't know who produced the ones for this kit - I suspect Eduard - as they were difficult to apply, being quite thick, unwilling to conform to curves and somewhat brittle. This was not the most enjoyable part of the project.

 

So, has this build changed my view of Academy kits? Definitely not! However, if I had to build this kit again, I would have no hesitation in doing so.

 

 

 

ANZAC Weekend Airshow (Sale)

 

Having not been to an airshow for over 2 years, this sounded like quite promising event so I went ahead and booked my tickets. Sad to say, when I turned up on the day it didn't look as promising as I'd imagined and it ended up being much less of an airshow than I expected. As a consequence, my full day out didn't eventuate and I left much earlier than I intended, being less than satisfied.